Interior
Department Announces Major Agreement
for Gunnison River Water in Colorado

DENVER -- The Interior Department
announced today that an agreement has been reached with the State of
Colorado on a long-standing dispute involving management of water from
the Gunnison River that flows through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
National Park. The agreement in principle was announced during a signing
ceremony with Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation John Keys, Deputy
Director of the National Park Service Randy Jones, Director of Colorado's
Department of Natural Resources, Greg Walcher and Colorado Attorney
General Ken Salazar.

When implemented by the Colorado
water court, the agreement worked out between the Interior Department's
National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation and the State of Colorado
will resolve a water rights dispute that has persisted for decades.
The two governments believe that the today's agreement demonstrates
how the federal government and the state, working together in a cooperative
manner, can properly manage and protect the nation's natural resources,
including parks and monuments.

Under the agreement, Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has reserved water right under
federal law and also water rights under Colorado law for flood flows
that occur during the spring months in wet years. The agreement establishes
a reserved right for base flows of 300 cubic feet per second at the
park in order to maintain the flow of water through the canyon. The
agreement also provides that the park has a water right under Colorado
law for the flood flows that scour the canyon to prevent buildup of
sediment and vegetation. The park's right for the flood flows is subject
only to rights that have already been acquired either by the federal
government or by private and public water users under Colorado law.

"This combination of
federal right and state right provides excellent protection for the
park," Jones said. "We are especially appreciative of the
excellent cooperation we have received from the State of Colorado."

The federal government is
not claiming a right to these flood flows under federal law; instead,
it is claiming the right to the flood flows in accordance with Colorado
laws and in consultation with and subject to approval by Colorado water
rights authorities.

"This agreement is great
for Interior, great for the park, great for the farmers and great for
the people of Colorado," Keys said. "It's an excellent example
of Secretary Norton's 'Four C's" at work to serve the interest
of all the people." The Four C's are consultation, cooperation
and communication- all in the service of conservation.

The agreement also requires
the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the Colorado Water Conservation Board to meet
annually in
the spring to make estimates about the amount of water that is expected
to flow through the Gunnison during the year. BOR will then operate
the Aspinall Unit in a way that allows the park to obtain the flushing
flows according to established schedules.

"This settlement brings
with it the end of a generation-old dispute and a new era of cooperation
with the federal government that results in real environmental benefits,"
said Walcher. "Spending millions on litigation is not the way to
protect water rights and the environment, and we commend Secretary Gale
Norton and the U.S. Department of Interior for working with us on this
innovative approach."

During the 1950s, Congress
enacted the Colorado River Storage Project Act, which provides for the
development of much of Colorado's water supply. One of the main features
of CRSPA is the Aspinall Unit (named after former Colorado Congressman
Wayne Aspinall), which stores water on the Gunnison River above Black
Canyon. The Aspinall Unit stores water for agricultural, municipal,
industrial and power needs and also for preservation of fish and wildlife.
The water stored by the Aspinall Unit would otherwise flow through the
Black Canyon. The Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Aspinall
Unit, expects to expand the project sometime in the future to make project
water available for Colorado's future growth needs.

The 30,000-acre Black Canyon
of the Gunnison National Park is located about 250 miles southwest of
Denver. It was designated a national monument by President Herbert Hoover
on
March 2, 1933, and upgraded to national park status by Congress on Oct.
21, 1999. The park is named for the Cambrian rock walls carved by the
Gunnison River more than 2 million years ago.
Within the park boundary 15,180 acres have been designated as wilderness
by Congress. The wilderness comprises the inner canyon and most of the
western uplands.